Dolores Morales & son, José

Dolores Morales, at her home in Sacha, holds a photo of her 19-year-old son Pedro, who died of cancerous tumors.

Testimonial of Dolores Morales and her son, José, of Sacha

Dolores: We lived in a house about 20 yards from an oil well. Another Texaco oil well was upstream from where we got our drinking water, and the water was usually oily with a yellowish foam.

I had 11 children. I lost Pedro when he was 19. The first sign of his sickness was when he broke his leg. He never stood up after that. He had three cancerous tumors: in his lungs, liver, and his leg. He only lived 10 months longer.

He really suffered. He begged the doctors to amputate his leg, but it was too late, the cancer had spread to the rest of his body. He was young; he had a girlfriend. He didn’t want to die.

Afterwards we were all sad. We still feel very bad.

Now, my 15-year-old son has leukemia. He’s receiving treatment. There are times when he has relapses, when he doesn’t want to eat, when his bones ache. Right now he’s in remission, but as he matures, it could be dangerous; the leukemia could return.

José: I first felt sick when I was four years old; my bones hurt. They say I have leukemia. When I’m sick, my bones ache, I fall down a lot, and I feel sad. I have to go to Quito every six weeks for a checkup. But I haven’t gone recently because my mother doesn’t have any money. I’m afraid I’m going to have more problems in the future.

I Stand with Steven

I Stand with Steven

Pledge:

I support attorney Steven Donziger and Ecuadorian advocates Javier Piaguaje and Hugo Camacho in their efforts to hold Chevron accountable for its devastation of farmer and indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. I call on Chevron to end its attacks against human rights lawyers, activists, and the communities of Ecuador who continue to demand Chevron meet its legal, moral, and ethical responsibilities and clean up its toxic waste in Ecuador.

During more than two decades of oil drilling in the Ecuadorian Amazon, Chevron admitted to discharging billions of gallons of toxic water into the rainforest, leaving local people suffering from an epidemic of cancer, miscarriages and birth defects. The affected indigenous and farmer communities have fought back with the help of a committed local legal effort, grassroots activism, and the tireless efforts of lawyers from around the world, including New York-based human rights lawyer Steven Donziger.

Chevron spent nine years arguing in United States Federal Court that the case against it should be heard in Ecuador. After being found liable for $19 billion in damages in the very Ecuadorian Court chosen by the company, Chevron responded by filing a retaliatory suit against Steven Donziger, Ecuadorian lawyer and advocate Pablo Fajardo, Goldman Prize winner Luis Yanza, and all 47 of their named clients in the very venue Chevron deemed inappropriate when the case was originally brought.

Chevron’s abusive legal strategy flies in the face of everything that our justice system and indeed our Constitution holds dear. For these reasons I support the fight of Steven Donziger, Javier Piaguaje, and Hugo Camacho and their colleagues to hold Chevron accountable for its contamination in Ecuador and the abuses of our justice system.